Shapeshifter Files
by sageandsol
Summary: The shape-shifters, renaming themselves the Kai'tun lived waiting for the right moment to attack and re-gain what they lost.  Contains Slash and is set in AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes: This is an AU story and my first Hetalia story. I don't own, the idea is mine though. America and Canada are theirs but that is simply because I'm an American so I'm showing a little bias, also I'm really close to Matthew though I won't say on which side and he's my favorite character. Beta-read by Kitty29 Enjoy!**

_A long time ago, the country of Chagnan was full of shapeshifters _that_ could change into__animals. It was said that each person had two names, a common name and a soul name which could not be repeated except in times of great need or by _their_ soul mate. Sometimes a person could shape-shift into two animal forms and it was said that these people were destined for greatness. _For_ a long time people in Chagnan lived happily, humans and shapeshifters living side by side . Until one day when __across the mountains came invaders who overran Chagnan with the help of the royal family's most trusted__adviser__.__ The invaders set about destroying the shape-shifters and repopulating the country with 'normal' people with a new king at the head of the government. Part__of the royal family and some of the shape-shifters managed to escape into the Baijo forest which surrounded Chagnan on two sides. The shape-shifters, renaming themselves the Kai'tun lived waiting for the right moment to attack and re-gain what they lost. _

Gilbert of Shanna, son of a noble of medium stature in King Ivan's court slowly slipped out the door of his room, red eyes darting around as he slowly made his way down the long hallway. He wore dark blue silk pants and a dark purple silk short-sleeved shirt, with a green wool cloak around his shoulders.

"Hey Master Gilbert." A voice hissed from beside one of the statues, and Gilbert jumped, startled.

"Antonio." He said softly, once he'd identified the voice and relaxed. Antonio was a servant in the mansion and the closest thing Gilbert had to a best friend.

"Where are you going at this hour, Master Gilbert?" Antonio asked, slipping out from his hiding spot and standing next to him.

"Away. I don't know where yet though and I told you to just call me Gilbert." Gilbert admitted, knowing that Antonio would make no move to stop him.

"Thought so, but really dressed like that? Well I'm going with you." Antonio stated slipping a cloth sack across his shoulder. Although Gilbert couldn't see him because of the darkness, he was positive Antonio was smiling.

"What no, you can't come with me; I'm too awesome to travel with anyone. Also what do you mean dressed like that?" Gilbert protested, trying to keep his voice down so that no one would wake up.

"I know where your brother is." Antonio retorted, "I can bring you to him if you want, but I have to come with you, and you aren't going to get anywhere dressed like you are. Come with me for a moment, I'll grab some clothes for you to wear."

Gilbert's eyes widened when he heard Antonio's words. A chance to see Ludwig again? That was too tempting to resist. Ludwig had tired of their father's, Lord of Shanna, cruelty to everyone and anyone except those closest to the throne and run away from home five years earlier leaving Gilbert to their fathers wrath. Although Gilbert hid it behind a cheerful front inside he worried for his younger brother. Often did he find himself thinking of him and hoping he was okay.

"Fine," he said, and then added in an afterthought. "You deserve it anyways for putting up with my asshole of a father." Antonio laughed softly before gently grabbing his hand and walking forward.

"Follow me." He hissed, "Follow me and trust that I know what I'm doing. We'll talk when we get out of here." Gilbert nodded his head even though he knew Antonio couldn't see him.

"Come with me," Antonio said, gently tugging Gilbert into one of the many guest rooms. "Wear these." He pushed some clothes into Gilberts hands and Gilbert pulled them on. These were made of a heavy fabric, though colored in the same dark shades as his old clothes.

The escape of the mansion was quick and easy, the guards on duty not looking towards the servants entrance, which as Gilbert thought about it was un-professional. Passing through the servants quarters and out the back kitchen door Gilbert could have sworn he heard whispers of "Good luck Master Gilbert" or "Give Master Ludwig our love" but he brushed it off. He had done nothing to earn the servants well-wishes.

"You are so popular Master Gilbert." Antonio commented lightly as soon as they were out on the long road, his voice slightly louder but filled with warmth and hope.

"What do you mean?" Gilbert asked. Part of him wondered why he wasn't saying 'but of course. I am awesome,' but he waved it off.

"Surely you heard the servants' well-wishes?" Antonio said, sounding surprised. Gilbert paused to look at his friend and asked softly. "Why would they want to wish me well? I've never done anything to stand out to them."

Antonio laughed softly obviously amused. "You were kind to us, unlike your father. Don't look at me like that, I'm serious. Anytime you said please or thank you, anytime you didn't yell or hurt us, that was a mark of good in our books. Of course they would want to wish you good luck."

Gilbert flushed at the unexpected words but didn't reply. They walked on for some time, passing the boundary of Shanna and into the Lord of Gitchken's land. Gilbert simply trusting his friend until they came to an inn on the side of the road. Before they entered Antonio turned to Gilbert and said, "Let me handle the talking, okay?"

The inn was empty except for a medium sized man who sat at one of the wood tables. The man had black hair and when he looked up Gilbert saw that he had brown eyes. "You guys are here at an odd hour." The man stated calmly, his voice heavily accented. Antonio offered a small tired smile.

"Yes, well, do you have any rooms?" The man nodded.

"Yes. I have one room available, if you are willing to share." Gilbert shared a look with Antonio and shrugged. He was tired so he honestly didn't care where he slept as long as he could rest soon.

"That will be fine." Antonio said and the man nodded.

"Come with me." The room was in the attic of the Inn, small with a single bed and a small window open to the chilly night air. "This will be perfect, thank you." Antonio said as Gilbert yawned, covering his mouth. Once the man was gone Antonio turned to Gilbert and said in a tone that brooked no room for argument. "You take the bed, there are some blankets that I'll use on the floor." Gilbert opened his mouth to argue, but closed it and nodded Too tired for further conversation, the two shrugged off their traveling gear before going to bed and falling into an easy sleep.

When Gilbert awoke, he was momentarily confused. He wasn't at home, that much he knew but he didn't know where he was. As he blinked the sleep away from his eyes, the memories came flooding back.

"Oh good you are up." Antonio said cheerfully from the doorway. "I was just talking to Kiku, the Inn owner and I have to say it was a stroke of luck that we stopped here."

"Why?" Gilbert mumbled, stretching like a cat.

"It's a secret. Anyway if we are to reach our destination before night fall we should leave now."

Gilbert swore but stood, his stomach growling. "Can I give my awesome self some food first?" He asked hopefully, not really wanting to start walking right away.

"Nope," Antonio said pulling a bun from a cloth bag and tossing it to Gilbert. "Catch."

Gilbert swore again but caught it, taking a bite he nearly hummed in happiness. The filing was a rich mixture of potatoes and meat with a hint of spices.

"Come on, we'll finish eating on the road." Antonio ordered slinging his travel sack over his shoulder. He started to grab Gilbert's but stopped when Gilbert growled warningly through a mouthful of bun. Swallowing the bit Gilbert said, "I can take it, I'm not your master anymore."

Antonio nodded and the two of them left the room. After paying Kiku they headed back onto the road, which was busier now that it was board daylight. The two of them walked in relative silence for sometime, eating the buns that Kiku had packed them. Gilbert wanted to ask where they were headed but couldn't find a way to ask without sounding 'un-awesome' and so kept his mouth shut. After awhile Antonio turned off the main road and headed toward the forest. Gilbert froze and quietly hissed, "Antonio, are you crazy? Where are you going?" Antonio turned to face Gilbert and said. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Come on, I want to be somewhere safe before it gets dark."

Gilbert hesitated, still nervous. Like nearly everyone growing up in Chagnan, he was raised with stories of the spirits and ghosts that haunted the forest. These stories installed a fear in every citizen to the point that those who didn't fear the forest were considered touched in the head, because of this fear there were no guards, as people avoided it for the most part. The forest wrapped it's self around Chagnon on two sides, which made travel to lands beyond it impossible that way.

"Come on," Antonio said, already at the forest's edge. "Or are you too scared?"

Gilbert swore and stalked to Antonio, hating the fact that Antonio knew him well enough to goad him into doing something.

"You sure my brother's beyond the forest?" He asked gripping his bag until his knuckles turned white.

"Sorry can't tell you yet, I made a promise to Kiku." Antonio replied, heading into the forest. The forest was dense and dim, the slight breeze causing the light that managed to find it's way through the leaves dance across the forest. Bird song rang through the air and the distant sound of animals only added to the mysteriousness of the forbidden place. Antonio pushed branches out of the way as he walked, causing them to snap back and hit Gilbert in the face.

"Antonio, careful of where those branches go! They keep hitting me." He said finally, getting sick of being hit.

"Sorry," Antonio said sheepishly, "I didn't realize that they were hitting you." Gilbert sighed and continued to walk behind him, hoping that Antonio wasn't leading him to his doom.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: See disclaimer on first page, beta'd by Kitty29

As Gilbert and Antonio walked farther into the forest a feeling of being watched crept over them.

"You sure you know where we are going?" Gilbert asked nervously, casting a wary look over his shoulder.

"Not really," Antonio replied, "Kiku just told me to walk into the forest."

Gilbert froze and glared at Antonio's back. "I thought you knew where Ludwig is." He accused angrily.

"I only know where he was headed, so I figured that we could head in that direction and work from there." Antonio said cheerfully as if he couldn't feel the death glare that was aimed at his back.

"That was un-awesome Antonio." Gilbert said scowling, but before Antonio could reply an arrow flew through the air and landed in a near-by tree.

"Take one more step and the next arrow goes through you." A hard, accented voice said and both men froze. A blond haired boy pushed through the undergrowth, violet eyes flashing angrily as he gripped his bow, arrow knocked ready to fire. The boy wore forest green pants that looked easy to move in, berry red shirt and archers wrist guards, on his belt that looked like it was made of woven reeds were a pair of thin wood sticks. As Gilbert looked at him, he figured the boy couldn't have been more then nineteen summers.

"I sing freedoms song,"Antonio said smoothly acting like he was talking about the weather. "As does he."

The boy relaxed slightly, though kept the arrow ready to fire and replied, "Who taught that sweet song?"

"Kiku Honda."

"Introduce yourselves then," The boy said releasing the string slightly so that the arrow simply fell to the ground, he picked it up, dusted it off and put it back into the qiver

"I'm Gilbert of Shanna," Gilbert said trying to keep the confusion from his voice. The boy stiffened slightly but other than that made no move.

"Antonio Valeraz."

"Gilbert I get the feeling you are confused you do not know of us?" The boy asked, sounding startled. "Then why are you here?"

"I ran away from home, and am looking for my brother." Gilbert answered.

"You have a brother," The boy stated, looking thoughtful. "Let me ask you this; is your father putting you up to this? 'Cause I know the Lord of Shanna and his kind are not welcome here, and unfortunately we know nothing about you."

"You do not trust us?" Antonio asked mildly, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't trust him, there are too many questions surrounding him," The boy said jerking his head at Gilbert. "However, if Kiku can vouch for you Antonio then we can see the Seer and have him test Gilbert of Shanna's trustworthiness."

"You said questions," Gilbert interrupted a bit put out by the boy who acted older than he looked. "What do you mean?"

"Oh there are several but the one that stands out the most is why didn't you follow your brother when he left."

"He asked me not to. Said that it was more dangerous if both of us left. He was right of course; Father flew into a rage that didn't let up for more than a year, 'course Ludwig was always the better son." Gilbert laughed bitterly, and shrugged.

"I see, so you are the brother that Ludwig constantly talks about," said the boy thoughtfully. "Back to the matter at hand though, would you guys mind waiting for the Seer?"

"Nope, we don't have anywhere we need to be, but you haven't told us your name yet." Antonio said cheerfully, causing the boy to groan.

"Matthew, I don't expect you to remember though, no one really does anyway." He turned and squatted close to the ground before speaking to a mouse that had just run up. "Can you get Arthur, please? Also tell him to use his Shindrig form."

The mouse squeaked and scurried off, much to Gilbert's shock. Looking up Matthew offered a shy smile and motioned for Gilbert and Antonio to sit down. "Now we wait, it'll be at least fifteen minutes so you might as well get comfortable but at least he'll be here quicker than if he just came as a human."

Gilbert did as was suggested a little bewildered by the quick change in Matthew's mood.

"So the tales are true." Antonio said as lay on the ground, arms behind his head acting as a pillow.

"Which tales? There are plenty of tales that are told, like that the forest is haunted by ghosts." Matthew said dryly.

"No the ones that are whispered when none of the Kings right hand men or those who wish to be by the King are around. They say you are shape shifters, able to turn into an animal, only one." Antonio replied. Gilbert frowned, he hadn't heard of the tales, then his mind ran over what Antonio said again and understood. Because he was close to royalty these stories would not have reached his ears.

"You heard those tales?" Matthew asked sounding surprised, "I didn't think they'd reach farther then the villages near the forest."

"I love listening to the old tales," Antonio said, "Some of my fondest memories are of listening to my Grandma telling tales of the days before this blasted monarchy came. She always said that there were still shapeshifters around and that one day they would rise up and all would be well in the land again."

Matthew nodded, a fond smile curling his lips. "That's what we say also. Sometimes when the weather gets bone cold and we are all forced into our Shindrig forms loosing hope, one of the elders or the Seer'll tell us that we are to rise again." He paused and added. "Shindrig is our word for second form, every shapeshifter has a Shindrig form but legend has it that some people have a third form called a Trinan form and that those who have this Trinan form are destined for greatness."

Quiet settled like a cloak around the three of them and Gilbert didn't say anything, not wanting to disturb the peace. Fifteen minutes later the sound of something rustling in the undergrowth startled them out of their thoughts and Matthew rose. A fox slunk out and transformed into a medium sized man with blond hair, green eyes and thick eyebrows who wore a light yellow sleeveless shirt and light green pants that were cut off at the knee, it was warm enough so that the clothes didn't look to unreasonable although nights were still cold.

"Why'd you call me…?" He asked trailing off looking quizzically at Matthew who sighed and said.

"Matthew, Arthur. I called you to ascertain that these people were trustworthy."

The man called Arthur glanced to Gilbert and Antonio and frowned slightly.

"They're okay, not spies though I still wouldn't trust them, my power can only see so much." He said grudgingly brows still furrowed. Matthew relaxed and said lightly.

"You don't trust anyone until they've proven themselves Arthur. Thanks for coming out and testing them anyway."

Arthur shrugged, "That's all then? I promised the idiot that I'd get some herbs for him, since he doesn't want to leave the Infirmary and he won't use his Shindrig form"

Matthew laughed softly and nodded. "That's it I'll show 'em to the village. Thanks again, happy gathering."

Arthur nodded slightly, "You'll find Ludwig at the training yards…" he trailed off looking puzzled.

"Matthew." Matthew supplied sighing, Arthur had the grace to look embarrassed before he shifted back into a fox and ran off.

"How did he know about Ludwig?" Gilbert asked, stunned. "And why did he forget your name?"

Matthew smiled shyly and said softly. "I'm really forgettable so people tend to either forget me or think I'm my brother. As for Ludwig, Arthur's the Seer, unfortunately that's about as much of an explanation as you'll be able to get." He shrugged apologetically and stood. "Ready? I'd like to get back to the village before dark."

Gilbert stood and offered Antonio his hand to help him up.

"Ready whenever you are." Antonio said cheerfully brushing leaves from his hair.

"Good, follow me." Matthew said starting into a trot heading in a direction different then where Arthur went. To Gilbert's surprise he found that there were hidden paths through the forest, marked only by less dense foliage.

"How do you not get lost?" Antonio asked from behind Gilbert.

"You get used to it." Matthew called back, "It helps if you grew up here."

Ten minutes later Matthew slowed down and let out an unearthly sounding howl startling Gilbert and Antonio. A second howl rang through the air and Matthew grinned. "Okay, we are clear." Noticing the looks he got he explained, "We do that so people in the training field don't get startled and accidentally hurt someone."

Gilbert and Antonio nodded before following Matthew into a clearing where there were about nine people. Gilbert looked around for his brother, trying not too look to frantic, but didn't spot him among the others. Distressed, he was glad when Antonio stated the obvious for him.

"Ludwig isn't here."

Matthew blinked before he too looked over at the training ground. Seeing that the others statement was correct, he turned to the two and said, "Wait here," before he trotted up to the nearest person.

Gilbert, meanwhile, ran a hand through his hair as he released a heavy sigh. Of course, how silly of him to just believe he could meet up with his long loss brother so easily. He didn't want to admit it, but a small voice in his head was constantly whispering that it would be a long time before he would see Ludwig once again, and it seemed as though that voice was right. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Antonio giving him a gentle smile, and he faked a small one of his own back. No need to bother the other with his own family politics, that would be unawesome.

It was then that Matthew decided to come back. "I think he's just taking a break," He reported. "He should be back soon."

A elated feeling rose in Gilbert's chest, and he fought to keep it from showing on his face. He opened his mouth to reply to the boy but hearing Antonio's words caused him to freeze.

"You look good Ludwig, these years have been kind to you."

Gilbert turned and stared at the man who seemed to have appeared from the forest like a spirit in a shirt with jagged sleeves, blond hair glowing in the late afternoon sunlight was Ludwig.


End file.
